So another round of E3 has gone by. A lot of things I had thought would show remained unannounced (GTA5, Vitality Sensor coverage, Last Guardian, etc). But although the conference ended nearly a week ago, I’ll go ahead and have my final say on what I thought of the show this year.
I have to say that I was really impressed by the show this year, which is good because I was starting to lose faith in the industry. But surprisingly, all three press conferences went really well I thought. Although I had hoped that Zelda would steal the show, Nintendo’s coverage of Skyward Sword was a bit disappointing. A brief teaser trailer and a demo with technical difficulties wasn’t really selling me on Link’s next adventure. Of course I’ll be buying it with high expectations, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, but after three years of waiting, the information given was sparse. Also, Silent Hill 6 was a disappointment considering how great of a following they have. Silent Hill is famous for its atmosphere, but the trailer that was shown off simply didn’t have the grotesque, disturbing, despairing environment that Silent Hill 0-5 have all had.
The game that stole the show for me was Twisted Metal. I’ve never played Twisted Metal, but without sounding like a poser, I can safely say that game looks freakin’ awesome. A teaser as well as a demo was shown, and the gameplay looks fierce to put it lightly. Carnage is to be expected, and I can’t wait to be a part of it. Another game that stole the show for me was Rock Band 3. I had heard of the keyboard peripheral before the show started, but I was still pretty impressed. I don’t know who on earth would use it as a “keytar”, but the fact that you can have it place on a holder and played as a legitimate keyboard gives me hope. It’s definitely something I’ll be playing for myself and hoping that the four-year wait was worth it. What did surprise me however was Pro Mode. A new 102 key guitar was announced, as well as drums featuring cymbals, and those paired with the keyboard will allow players to (hopefully) learn how to actually play these in-depth instruments.
As for the press conferences, Microsoft had a great show off of Kinect. The capabilities of this new peripheral really are something else. I’m really looking forward to Dance Central, as well as Kinectvideo. I also wouldn’t mind a shot at that new 360 slim either. Nintendo I was hoping for some actual demo footage of the 3DS games, as well as anything about the Vitality Sensor, but their show was still impressive. They finally covered their hardcore audience really well. No new series, but they covered Zelda, Mario, a real Donkey Kong, Kirby, Epic Mickey, Kid Icarus, and Goldeneye. I’ll definitely be buying at least half of those titles. Sony also had a pretty good showing, but my one major complaint is that for everything they showed, they explained very little. Sony covered a lot of announcements with trailer after trailer, but didn’t really go in depth with most of them, which ironically leaves a more forgettable impression.
So all in all I was pretty pleased with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo’s showings this year. I’ll definitely be investing in many of the products shown, but who really stole the show? I think this year is a really tough call, but I have to give it to Nintendo this time. Microsoft generally has a good show, Sony’s is usually decent enough, but Nintendo’s is usually disappointing despite all of their success. And I think it’s for that reason that their hardcore representation was all the more rewarding. So I was able to pick a best conference, but I can’t pick a worst because none of them were bad. Unless we count the EA and Ubisoft shows, in which case Ubisoft wins that title. The big three were the only conferences I really cared about watching, but I gave the other conferences a shot, and I now understand that it wasn’t really worth it. Save for Star Wars: The Old Republic. That game made EA’s conference somewhat worthwhile.
So that’s it. Next big show is the Tokyo Game Show in September. Hopefully the wait for all of these wonderful products will go by quickly and we can be enjoying most of them within the year. Should definitely be a very merry holiday season.
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Most Impressive Press Conference: Nintendo
Least Impressive Press Conference: Ubisoft
Most Impressive of E3:
10. Portal 2
9. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
8. 3DS capabilities
7. Mortal Kombat 9
6. Xbox 360 Slim
5. Kid Icarus
4. Epic Mickey
3. Dance Central
2. Rock Band 3
1. Twisted Metal
Least Impressive/Most Disappointing of E3:
10. Your Shape measurement mix-up
9. 3DS coverage for home audience
8. Lack of price points for 3DS and Kinect
7. Kinect Launch lineup
6. Vitality Sensor absence
5. Lack of PSP marketing
4. Silent Hill trailer
3. The Last Guardian absence
2. Innergy
1. Laser Tag
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